HOUTHI SURGE: Yemen Rebels Seize Strategic Coast, Reshaping Iran War...

The Houthis have seized roughly 80 miles of Yemen's Red Sea coastline in recent days, consolidating Iranian influence over two of the world's most critical shipping chokepoints—the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab, which together handle more than a third of global oil and fuel trade. The rapid advance, largely unexpected, demonstrates the group's resilience after twelve years of civil war and sustained airstrikes by Saudi, American, Israeli, and British forces. Control of the coastal plain and potentially key islands like Perim gives the Iranian-backed rebels unprecedented leverage to disrupt international maritime traffic through missile, drone, and naval attacks, as they demonstrated during the Gaza war.